A Lonely Echo
by SharkAttack719
Summary: "I am nothing. I am like a tiny blue dot in the vast emptiness of the cosmos. I am a loser not even worth bullying. Yet I am also strong. My life has fallen apart around me, and I have somehow managed to persevere through. And somewhere along the line, Annabeth Chase fits in. Can love succeed? Or will death consume us all?" [AU]. I expect teens to know about this stuff but may be M
1. Easy Is Not Worth It

**I know that none of you will enjoy this. Despite that, I'm doing stuff right now that involves a lot of these kinds of topics. I've also been reading TheLostRelic and his stories on FanFiction. He's publishing his story called Wolf's Law, and I thoroughly enjoyed that story. Even though there are darker themes in there, I think it reflects the negative part of our society well. It's always been something I've pondered on. Why are we who we are? Is it hereditary or is it due to the social environment we live in? You probably already have an idea for an answer but that is something this story will explore.**

**For the five of you reading this story, review if you can. Tell me how crappy this story is. I won't be offended. Because as a writer, I need criticism to improve. The worse the comments, the better. I won't feel to pleased... actually, I'd be pretty pissed because I have a short temper... but it'll help. Thanks a lot.**

**SharkAttack719**

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Love is a fragile concept. You never know what it will be. Will it be kind to you today? Will it be jagged and harsh?

It's like the sea: mysterious and ever-changing.

Some days there are calm, welcoming seas. Some days there are stormy, destructive seas. Well, for me, there seem to only be stormy, destructive seas. Ever since I was little, I have been plagued with bad luck and disasters. The very first was the death of my mother during childbirth.

I didn't know what the hell was going on back then, but as I grew up, I began to understand. My mother, according to my step-father, was a loving and caring woman who loved everything about life. She was energetic, mysterious, and wonderful. My step-father's vocabulary wasn't the most diverse.

When I was born, the hospital staff was struggling to get me out of my mother. She had been dilated at seven centimeters and needed a caesarean section. Despite getting me out safely, it was discovered minutes after they took me out: there had been a rupture of blood vessels and my mother's death was caused by haemorrhage.

Her name was Sally Jackson.

The second disaster was my step-father's drinking sprees. Because of his love for my mother, he never loved again, and often tried getting over his sorrow by drowning himself in alcohol. I was involved in two car crashes by the time I turned two years old, and by the time I turned ten, my step-father's driver's license had been revoked.

I had to walk to the local supermarket and I eventually made friends with the grocer. It was too bad that he was an old man with Parkinson's disease. He died when I was fourteen. Then some rude, ignorant teenage guy replaced him, and I disliked him instantly.

Apparently my step-father didn't have good parental skills because I was charged for assault with broccoli just two weeks after the old man's death. I was fined, and since my step—father wasn't the most efficient worker, he made me work for the fine.

Still, my step-father worked and money wasn't a real issue.

My step-father's name is Gabe Ugliano. I never knew my real father. Apparently he'd been a drunken ass who'd got himself killed in a sea storm. The getting-killed-in-a-sea-storm part I believed. The drunken-ass part... not so much.

The third disaster was school. I had always hoped that school would prove to be the difference maker in my life. I had hoped that it would be the place where I could fit in with other kids, obtain a lot of friends, and stay safe. It would be the one place where I could escape the drunken wrath of Gabe.

Instead, it proved to be worse than staying at home. Originally, elementary school was just full of bullies and getting beat up. Middle school was the same thing. I endured detrimental insults and suffered with black eyes and bruises, but that was it. I could handle it. Gabe had prepared me for that.

Then my grandparents died. All four of them were gone within a year. I was fifteen when my last grandmother had passed on. They were the ones that tried their best to fill the hole that my mother's absence had forsaken, like an overflowing well of light that never seemed to be enough. The light was receding now. The darkness was conquering.

The party, when I was sixteen years old, was the one thing that probably changed me. For the better or for the worse…I don't know.

Everyone was officially invited, though it was common sense for some people to not show up. I mean, which one of the bully victims wanted to show up to get bullied. They were far smarter than that.

As for me, the beatings and bullying had also receded. I took that negatively. Maybe no one wanted to pay attention to me anymore. Maybe I wasn't important enough to bully anymore. Think about it this way: Rudolph the red-nosed reindeer was ridiculed by fellow reindeers for his weird nose, but instead of becoming Santa's prized reindeer, his name faded slowly into the background and nobody ever heard about him again.

That's what it felt like.

The moment I stepped through the double doors and entered the party, I took a whiff of the aroma and immediately felt like it was home. It smelled like alcohol. Every bad thing my step-father had ever done seemed to be wrapped up in this one place. Who knew that there could be such terrible parents out there?

Many were outside smoking, and inside people were drinking. Music blared like a bullhorn from the living room, and the bass pumped so loudly that the neighbors probably thought that there was an earthquake.

It was unfortunate how society turned out to be. Whether it was lack of proper parenting or if it was just social influences, it didn't matter. All I had ever seen in my life was negativity. How could I possibly be optimistic?

I trudged around through the many different rooms and saw a couple lying on the bed making out passionately.

There is a difference between love and lust. Love is hard. Lust is easy.

Lust was all I could see. Downstairs, in the living room, kids partied and danced. There was grinding and all these different sexual dance moves that the teenagers were doing to the point where I felt sick to the stomach. Why did this have to be like home? My home was terrible. Is that acceptable?

It was just like my life to be so poor that my father started hiring prostitutes when I knew about sex. While I tried to concentrate on my homework, the walls would bang and thump, and creepy noises came from down the hall. It was like I was living in a nightmare… in a horror book even.

As the clock turned twelve and it struck midnight, the teenagers pulled out the dagger: drugs.

It never struck me before how teenagers nowadays have such poor influences. Just think about those video games that are publicized. Sure, they are video games, but in the right situations, they can really change a person.

I get that although smoking and pot aren't necessarily the worst choices a person can make, they are far from the best. I couldn't honestly care less about the choices people made. That's what America's about, right? Free rights and everything. You can go out and spend all your money on alcohol for all I care. As long as you understand what you're doing to yourself.

It was at that party that I realized something: humans are evil.

We praise ourselves for being the most helpful species, for being the smartest and for having the ability to search and find more than what is the simplest. We praise ourselves for our complexity and superiority.

But does that truly reflect our personality? We deem carnivorous animals savage just because they eat other animals. So do we. We eat chicken, cows, lamb, pork and all other kinds of farmed animals. We eat fish, mussels, prawns, lobsters and crabs. Is it not cruel that we keep these animals in captivity? Is it not cruel that we make them suffer for our good? At least carnivorous animals do what they do for survival and necessity and not desire like humans.

As the "most intelligent" creature, we also have the capability to disagree with one another. Perhaps other animals fight because they want to mate with a certain female. We fight ourselves just because we disagree with each other's logic and view on life.

Perhaps complexity is bad.

Why, then, do we have such a high level of science nowadays? It can be found that science has been driven by militaristic wars. All the things we enjoy today that involve satellite communication were originally military-developed space technologies that were meant to spy on opposing countries. Does the bad drive us to the good?

We rely so much on technology nowadays that it seems to be engrained into our brains. The stereo blaring loud music? It was a technological improvement to make it loud and small. The radio shouting a play-by-play football game? The radio was originally invented by the government to be able to communicate over a longer distance verbally.

With every bad there seems to be a good that comes out of it. Wars help develop technology, and the pain and suffering we endure can help us learn and succeed the future.

What do those wise-sounding professors always say? _In life, you take the test, then you learn the lesson_.

That test may be a war. That test may be a failure. That test may be your first love rejecting you. No matter what happens, though, the test will always end up being negative in one way or another. Likewise, the lesson is always positive in one way or another.

Perhaps bad is good.

And then why do we endear the things that are so complicated? Love and life are the two hardest things to endure. Hate and death are the two easiest things to feel. Yet as humans, we wish to love and to live, not to die or to hate.

Maybe life is a game.

When love does not find us it drives us to hate, or in extreme measures, death. When life escapes us, death consumes us. At the same time, when we elude death, we live and those close to us love us. It is almost like a cycle of endless possibilities.

Standing at the side of the room, I watched as a girl took a cup of beer from her friend's hand, splashed it in her face while laughing, and tossed the cup to the table.

There was that point of view on my life where I could say my life is the opposite of what is accepted as normal. Every good I've endured has ended up bad. But that was my big test. So many bad things have happened to me that it can be said so many good things have come from them.

Besides, easy is bad and hard is good. Death is easy and life is hard. Death is bad and life is good. You just have to get back up from whatever bad occurs.

For a second, Annabeth Chase turned and we locked eyes. Her swirling grey eyes met mine and a million possibilities seemed to rush to my head. Maybe the eyes were the windows to the soul, but there was always one thing that made someone intriguing: their secrets. Even if there are windows there, there will always be a tint somewhere. Secrets can be hid anywhere.

Junior year in high school was one year just before the last and final year of high school. Hopefully after that I'll never have to see any of the people I go to school with ever again. Aside from Annabeth that is.

It wasn't just because I had a crush on her. It wasn't just because I wanted to date her. It was because I wanted to know who Annabeth was. I wanted to know why I felt so intrigued about her. Why not someone else? What drew me to _her_?

Her blonde hair was pulled up in a messy ponytail and as she realized I was staring, a smirk tugged at the corner of her lips. Was she going to make fun of me? I'd love for her to ridicule me all day long.

Yet with those eyes, it was hard to tell what she was thinking. Wise yet mysterious. You could almost call her Athena. A girl with stunning good-looks yet wasn't even close to perfect. A girl with a high level of intelligence yet knew little about points of view. A girl who understood nothing yet understood everything.

One word: fascinating.

"Yeah," I muttered, a smirk gracing my lips. "Easy's not worth it."

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**Hey everyone,**

**Hope you enjoy this chapter. Remember to tell me if you like it or not.**

**Thanks a bunch,  
SharkAttack719**


	2. Getting to Know You

**Another chapter! Not as deep as chapter one, but that was meant to be the foundation. This is sort of like the beginning of the rising action. Percy will get to know Annabeth more, I promise, and Luke won't be exactly who you think... Gabe is like usual.**

**SharkAttack719**

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Sitting in the stands I watched as Luke Castellan darted through the entire line of enemy defence. He was sneaky and quick, so it wasn't much of a surprise that he made it through without getting tackled. Normally, I hated his guts but school spirit was worth it too. Don't get me wrong, life is a pain in the butt… but sometimes you gotta live with that.

As Luke crossed into the endzone, the bleachers erupted into an enormous roar of cheering. He was quite the popular guy.

I stood up with everyone else and applauded. The only difference was that my level of energy was far surpassed by those around me. I guess you could call me a quiet person. That wasn't necessarily true, though. Remember? Assault with broccoli.

By halftime, the score was forty-nine to three for us. Our school team name was the Bulldogs, the Goode Bulldogs. It sounded quite funny because we were technically the "good bulldogs." I wasn't sure if that was intended as a pun, but it could have worked with anything: the "good hornets," the "good vipers," or even the "good Celtics."

That being said, we aren't all Celtics. I don't even know my family history past my grandparents.

Sad isn't it?

Just as the fourth quarter began, someone sat down next to me holding a small bucket of popcorn. She had grey sneakers, wore jeans, an orange T-shirt and a thin black sweater-jacket hybrid. Her hands weren't soft and fragile yet there was no sign that they were calloused in rough. She was somewhere in between. Her blonde hair curled down the side of her face gently, and a New York Yankees baseball cap covered the crown of her head.

I was so shocked that it was who it was that I ended up staring.

Annabeth seemed to notice this and said, "You're Percy Jackson, right?"

"Uh, yeah," I replied simply.

"Hm. Cool." She turned away to watch the football game.

Wrenching my eyes from her, I also tried to pay close attention to the football game, but I just couldn't. Of course I had to be this way. I couldn't just be like any other guy and watch a football game without thinking about my crush.

Let me take back what I said… or thought… earlier. Life isn't _just_ a game. Life is a game that we're meant to lose.

How could a person like me have any chance with someone like Annabeth?

Shaking my head, I focused back on the football game. The quarterback, Ethan Nakamura, launched a bullet of a throw deep into the enemy field. A crowd roared in anticipation, and many students yelled "Go Luke!"

Annabeth was included.

As the ball approached Luke and the defender covering him, time seemed to slow down into half speed. Everything travelled half as fast as they should. It was like a movie: the receiver dramatically receiving an epic throw from the quarterback. The only difference was that in those movies the unsung hero (a.k.a The Protagonist) catches the ball and becomes popular. I wish my life was that cliché.

Just as Luke caught it, hovering in midair over the endzone ground, time sped back up to normal time and, like before, the crowd erupted into cheers.

I wondered if it was my imagination, but it seemed like Annabeth was the loudest fan in the crowd.

As the crowd settled back in, buzzing from the latest point, the free kick and kickoff were quick to happen. The ball went skyward two times, and play resumed. Then suddenly, as an impulsive action, I turned to Annabeth and asked her a question:

"Why did you arrive so late?"

She turned to me confused. "Excuse me?"

"Why did you arrive at the game so late? You came at the beginning of the fourth quarter. I mean, you're a pretty smart person, so I'd expect you to be doing schoolwork or something, but that would mean you wouldn't show up. Why so late?"

"Oh." Annabeth looked irritated. "I was busy with family issues."

She didn't elaborate any further.

For a second, I thought about getting a little angry at her for not wanting to talk to me even though no one ever really did. I thought about lashing out at her for discriminating against me and leaving in a haste to head to my "safe spot." But a part of me halted that. For some weird reason, I believed her. It had nothing to do with being in love with her. There was that curiosity again… that fascination. What was she hiding? There had to be a reason.

I still respected her, though, and I let her have personal space.

The rest of the game was watched in silence. Well, not literally in silence, but I meant that we didn't speak to each other for the rest of the game. And even when the game was over, I glanced at her before walking away. I could have sworn that she turned to glance back at me but I didn't look back once.

The score was seventy-three to twenty-one.

Slowly, I made my way back to my car. I wasn't excited in any possible way to get home, so I wasn't hasty. I took my time.

I was standing at the hood of my car, my fists tapping a rhythm on the metal. It wasn't to any specific beat... at least, I didn't think so. As time passed, I slowly began to feel a vibration in my throat, which was a little odd, but I passed it off.

After a couple of seconds, someone suddenly remarked, "Are you humming 'Can You Feel the Love Tonight' from _The Lion King_?"

Whirling around, I nearly had a heart attack.

Annabeth gave me a small smile. Probably because of my face.

She took a deep breath and said in a frustrated tone, "I need a ride home. My dad's a little busy to pick me up so..."

Still stunned that she'd actually been there, I stood as still as plywood. No words came out of my mouth.

Annabeth raised an eyebrow after another few seconds. "Um, Percy? Are you okay?"

I shook my head to clear my thoughts before blinking. "What? Yeah, I'm fine."

I could tell from her expression that she didn't believe it for one second. Technically, I was fine. I was just unsettled at the fact that she'd actually come to me for a ride home. Earlier, she barely even wanted to talk. What made her change her mind?

Still, she _was_ Annabeth. Could I possibly say no?

Shut up, a part of my mind said. You aren't some love sap.

"Great," I muttered. "Now I'm arguing with myself in my head."

It was too late before I realized that I'd said that out loud. Going wide-eyed, I turned away and got into the cheap Toyota Prius.

Annabeth was probably freaked out at me. Arguing with myself in my head… how much weirder could I possibly get. I shook my head and muttered to myself. Putting the key in the ignition, I turned it and the car started.

Looking out the front window, I noticed Annabeth give me a resigned look before she turned and walked away.

Sadly, I watched as she made her way back towards the stadium.

A part of me felt as if I had been torn into two pieces. Should I really have let her go like that? Just because I looked weird didn't mean she would think any lesser of me. I was just giving her a ride home. That was all she needed. Talk about self-centered and shallow.

I realized that what I was doing was exactly what I hated about Luke. Luke was a snarky eleventh grader who acted as if he were above everyone else. He pretended that he was king, though whenever something came up like a charity event, he'd show up to make his school-wide personality more caring towards the homeless or whatnot.

He only cared about his personal image and how others should perceive him. He didn't care for those around him. I hated him. I was pretty sure he hated me.

Gritting my teeth hard, I opened my door and stepped out. "Annabeth, wait!"

She turned around.

"I'll give you a ride."

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"So, what did you think of the football game?" I asked.

Annabeth turned to me. She looked dead tired. "I was only there for the fourth quarter, but I thought it was pretty exciting."

"You don't look excited."

"I don't, do I?" She laughed a little, a warm sound that made my body tingle. "I must look like a mess."

"You didn't look like that at the game," I said. It was true. She looked normal at the game. "You looked like yourself at the game."

"And _how_ would you know what my normal self looks like?" she asked. It was obviously a sarcastic question, but I still answered it.

"We have English and Math together every week… You never look this tired."

"Why are you so nosy?" she said rolling her eyes. "All of a sudden you go from muttering to yourself and trying to get away from me to being a sociable and talkative all while telling me that you know what I look like on a regular basis. Doesn't that sound eerie in a way?"

"Look, I'm just trying to keep the tone light here."

"You don't seem like a 'light' kind of person."

Frowning, I awkwardly turned to look out the side window. In any other city, the night would look dark, an enormous shadow looming over the city, like death ready to pounce. New York is different. New York basically looks like a giant light that never turns off. Maybe it would dim during the night, but it would never completely shut off. Basically, it wouldn't look any different in the day than it does in the night.

The world must really have felt like mocking me. Endless light? Ha! More like endless darkness.

What Annabeth said was partially true. I knew that my aura wasn't one of happiness and... well, optimism. I guess people thought my realism was pessimistic. It's too bad because life isn't always what we think. Humans just make the best of what they can. That's what I do.

I felt a hand on my shoulder. "I'm sorry."

Turning to look at Annabeth, I noticed that she actually looked sympathetic. She actually felt sorry. They weren't hollow words. Her grey eyes dazzled as beautifully as ever. I nodded in understanding.

Then suddenly, a car horn blared, and turning to the front, I yanked the wheel hard to the right. We missed hitting a truck by inches, and I swear that I nearly had a heart attack.

Both hands on the wheels and breathing deeply, I turned to Annabeth again, my foot light on the gas pedal. "Why don't I focus on driving you home? That way we don't have to introduce each other's parents in a hospital."

Her eyes were wide and frightened as well. Swallowing hard, she said, "That sounds like a good idea."

For the rest of the trip, we didn't look at each other once. We continued talking, however, and somehow I got her phone number. She had written it down on a sticky note and stuck it to my forehead. She told that if she wanted to hang out, which she thought could be "interesting" and hopefully less full of "near-death experiences," she would text me or call me.

One step for me, one giant leap for our relationship.

If I didn't have to go home after dropping her off, it would have been a dream come true for me: to actually socialize with someone. Just because I hated a lot of the things teenagers did I didn't want to be lonely for the rest of my high school tenure. That would be just like saying I hate school and I'm going to give it up. Education is vital in our society.

As I drove home, I pondered on "good and bad" once again. Saying love is hard and hate is easy can be like saying most illegal drugs are easy and education is hard. Most illegal drugs you just inject into yourself and get addicted (or smoke or snort...) until the point where you run out of money. And you're too influenced to be able to get a job. In education, you have to work to get into university to be able to get a well-paying job (unless you can pull it off otherwise; I congratulate whoever can). There are always counterpoints, but I speak in general.

My step-father was a great example of bad. What did he do for a living? Yes, I said he had a job. That job was to play poker. He seemed extremely fortunate, which didn't seem fair. But who am I kidding? Life isn't fair.

Perhaps fate gives luck to the evil, and gives misfortune to the good. Or perhaps it is the opposite. What if _I_ am evil? What if _I_ am the one that needs help? Are there societal values of being "good"? Are there societal values of "bad" people?

If there were any, I had no idea.

Soon enough, I pulled up into the driveway at my house. I parked the Prius before heading into the house where Gabe was playing poker with a whole bunch of his friends.

"Fold!" Gabe said as I entered the living room. His disgusting brown eyes looked up at me and he smiled cruelly. "Well, look who it is. My step-son. Gotta love the kid. You got my money?"

"No," I responded. Pulling out a twenty from my pocket, I tossed it at him. "I got _my_ money, you greasy-ass boar."

Gabe sneered but passed it off.

I made my way to the bathroom and washed my face. Looking in the mirror, I noticed that my eyes looked a little darker than usual. Usually they were a calm sea-green. They looked like swirling storms of poison.

"Swirling storms of poison," I snorted bitterly. "Just like my personality, huh?"

I took a brief shower, and when I came out, I immediately when to do my English homework. As I opened my notebook, Gabe shouted from the living room, "Percy, you eat dinner yet? If not, there's some rotten fish in the freezer!"

"I already ate," I called back. Muttering to myself, I said, "Where'd the fish rot? I'd assumed you breathed on it."

Then, I began writing in my notebook. Our assignment was to write a poem, and I chose an autobiographical poem:

_Percy  
Realistic. Dark. Liar. Loyal.  
Brother of no one.  
Lover of pizza, burgers and fries  
Who feels sad, bittersweet and alone  
Who needs family, a home and love  
Who gives loyalty, care and trust  
Who fears being alone forever, failure and being wrong  
Who would like to see the Parthenon, the world in all its glory and humanity at its peak  
Resident of New York.  
Jackson_

It's true. I love pizza, burgers and fries. They're followed up by Greek salad, but burgers are way better. It seemed kind of depressing after I read it over. I need family, a home and love. It sounds as if I truly have nobody in this world. Just because my life has fallen apart around didn't mean I had _nobody_. It's true, I feel alone, but nobody is extreme.

Just then, Gabe entered the room, a glass bottle of whiskey in his hands. "I told you to go to the liquor store to get more of this." He popped the cap and turned it upside down. No liquid came out. "Did you go out?"

"It's your own beer," I snarled, my temporarily happy moment dissipating into anger. "Get it yourself."

He strode over to me quickly and whacked me with the glass bottle. I had raised my arm in defense so it didn't hit my head, but it was extremely painful. The glass bottle didn't shatter but there was a tiny little crack in it.

"Argh! What the hell was that for?"

"For not getting me my beer," Gabe growled.

"I don't _have_ to get you beer all the freaking time," I snapped. "I'm not even legally allowed to drink it, you moron! It's only because they know I'm getting it for you, you fat old walrus."

Gabe raised the bottle of beer again and struck the same arm. Howling in pain, I collapsed to the floor. Looking up, I saw Gabe standing at the doorway.

Sneering, he said, "You better get it next time or this'll be your head." He took the bottle and smashed it hard at the door. The bottle shattered into pieces, none of which impaled Gabe. Another lucky event.

Clutching my arm and shaking in anger, I went to grab the vacuum cleaner. I came back and picked up all of the large pieces and put them in a bag before vacuum cleaning all of the small little shards. My arm screamed in pain every single time I moved, and I probably should have gone to the hospital to see if anything was broken, but I stayed home and decided to sleep it out. I would find out tomorrow if it was seriously broken.

And, like always, I dreamed of nightmares.

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**Hey everyone,**

**Hope you enjoy this chapter. Remember to tell me if you like it or not.**

**Thanks a bunch,  
SharkAttack719**


	3. Behind the Blinds

**Another chapter for this story. Yay. There's not much to say other than I hope you criticize it. As I write this story, I too am trying to figure out whether there are answers, finite answers, for these questions. Maybe there are only opinions, and I represent one side of the opinion. I don't know. Just tell me what you think. What do you think of the growing friendship between Percy and Annabeth. I know it seems quick, but it has to be this way for the story to develop. I think that I will spend another chapter developing their friendship before problems begin to spring up.**

**Vote on my poll. I want to see what your favorite story of mine is.**

**Thanks a lot,  
Sharky**

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Gabe had hit me hard enough so that I needed to wear an arm brace. His glass bottles must have been thick to be able to do that. The bone didn't break, but it had been cracked. There wasn't even a fracture. It was a minor injury yet it hurt as if someone had stabbed me with a knife.

When I came home from the hospital, I noticed that I had gotten a text. It was from one of the few contacts that I had on my phone.

_Where r u? Did u come 2 schul 2day?_

Annabeth had sent it.

I pursed my lips in thought and typed: _I'm not feeling well so no_

Slowly, I made my way to my room and flopped down on my bed. I put the prescriptions that the doctor had given me into my night-table, and got up to go to the kitchen. I took the bag I'd brought and put four six-packs of beer in the fridge.

"Gabe!" I shouted. "Got your beer. Leave me alone!"

"Thank you very much," Gabe shouted back from the living room. He was obviously being sarcastic.

What a pathetic and lonely life I had. It seemed so cruel that Fate had this in store for me as my life. It seemed so cruel how I had to endure all of the pain while others got to live free and happy from worries. It made me bitter. So, so bitter.

At times I thought that maybe drinking my problems away would be a good solution, but my personal philosophy tore me apart. Drinking is bad. I kept reminding myself that although I knew that bad and good were always intertwined. Could I ever truly understand the answers to my questions on life? Probably not. In fact, I know that I understand nothing. But good and evil are so intertwined that it hurts my head just thinking about it.

Back in high school, it was even worse.

Of course the next day I went back to school, and like usual, no one paid attention to me. Except for Annabeth.

I had no idea what had gotten into her. Why had she suddenly developed an interest in me? Just because I had talked to her at the football game? She'd never paid attention to me before. Not a single thought since kindergarten when we sat next to each other every single day of the year. I guess that was when I'd developed my crush on her.

Why _had_ she suddenly developed an interest in me?

Perhaps it was because I was mysterious and secretive. Perhaps she just felt that I could become a good friend of hers. Perhaps it was because she wanted to ridicule me. Perhaps she just wanted to know a little more about me. She definitely knew who I was... err, at least my name. That I could tell.

There were endless possibilities. There were the happier and more optimistic possibilities such as her having some sort of romantic interest in me or her wanting to be a close friend, and then there were the more depressing and more pessimistic possibilities such as her wanting to ridicule me or her wanting to bring me back into the bullying cycle.

She couldn't possibly break me any more than I've already been broken. My life is series of disasters.

"Hey, Percy," she greeted as she saw me. Glancing at my arm brace, she asked, "What happened to your arm? Did you get hurt?"

"Clumsy me," I lied with a fake laugh. "I fell down the stairs and landed on my arm. Didn't dislocate my shoulder but my arm hit the bend of the stairs. I could have broken my arm if I landed hard enough."

"Aw, that sucks," Annabeth said sympathetically. "I hope you feel better soon."

She was making it hard for me to believe we were barely even considered friends. The way she acted made me feel like we'd been friends for years. I wasn't to say I didn't like it... but it was concerting.

After getting my English books, we went to English class with my favorite teacher at Goode High: Paul Blofis. The first time I met him back in freshman year I had accidentally called him Mr. Blowfish and we got off on the wrong foot. Ever since, we developed a kind of father-son relationship. He often helped me with my problems, though I never brought up any serious issues. Mr. Blofis would never understand what my real problems were.

Annabeth and I sat at adjacent seats in the middle of the classroom. I noticed that she greeted the Grace twins. They were completely fraternal. Neither of them looked like the other. The only thing I knew about them was that the girl, Thalia, didn't like using Grace as her last name, and Jason, the boy, was dating a girl named Piper McLean.

Shows you what kind of news gets around, I thought. Nothing useful.

Just as they sat down, Mr. Blofis entered the classroom. He set his books and folders on the table and immediately said, "Shakespeare's sonnets are generally in what poetic meter?"

Annabeth's hand shot up like a rocket.

"Annabeth?"

"Iambic pentameter."

"Correct."

Snickers came up from around the class. It was well known that Annabeth was pretty much the smartest kid in the class. She could answer questions like crazy. It intrigued me how she could understand and learn things so quickly and efficiently with rare flaws.

"Now, today we will be creating our own little poems," Mr. Blofis said. "Or if you did it for homework please share with someone. The autobiographical poems remember?"

"That was for homework?" Jason asked incredulously.

"Not necessarily," Mr. Blofis said with a small smile. "Work on it now. I'm sure you will be able to get it done. Go!"

I turned to Annabeth immediately and asked, "Are you done?"

She hesitated for a second before saying, "Yeah. I'm done."

"Want to share?"

"Not really..." Her eyes were guarded and the blinds of her windows were shut. The longer I peered into them, the tighter the blinds seemed to get. I knew she was hiding something. Swallowing nervously, I reached into my bag and pulled out my poem. She realized what I was doing and said, "No! I can't look at yours!"

I glanced down at my page and saw the answers I had written down for each section. Some of those things I didn't want to reveal. This was a little personal, but I knew that this was a school project. Annabeth probably wouldn't even take it seriously. Did she think I would judge her from a stupid poem?

She hesitated for a couple of seconds before sighing and pulling out a sheet of paper from her notebook. "Fine. Here you go." She took my piece of paper and began reading it.

I watched slowly as her eyes began to lull their way into reading the poem. Then I looked down and slid her paper under my gaze before beginning to read it:

_Annabeth  
Intelligent. Energetic. Timid. Cranky.  
Sister of Bobby and Matthew.  
Lover of architecture, books and knowledge  
Who feels alone, misunderstood and loveless  
Who needs caring friends, a better home and appreciative love  
Who gives loyalty, friendship and energy  
Who fears spiders, lack of love and being wrong  
Who would like to see the Parthenon, the greatest monuments of all time and a happy life  
Resident of New York.  
Chase_

My head turned slowly as I looked at Annabeth. I felt as though I had just made the discovery of a century. Annabeth's happy, energetic self was partially a facade. She was acting.

_A better home and appreciative love. Who feels alone, misunderstood..._

Perhaps I'm not the only one with the problems, I thought. Maybe Annabeth's dealing with problems of her own.

Just then, she turned to me, a shocked expression written across her face. For what seemed like forever, we stared into each other's eyes. It seemed as though a barrier had been lifted. The blinds had opened, even if for only seconds, and both of us got a look inside of the other's soul. The windows had been revealed.

I saw a deep pain that I knew so very well. A pain that had been hidden away because of the shame that was felt because of it. Did she actually feel like her friends filled the gaping hole left in her heart from all that had gone wrong?

Then the blinds shuddered and sealed the inner feelings and thoughts in.

We stared at each other, still stunned from what we read. Were we really that different? It had seemed that way until I read her autobiographical poem. Before, it was like we alienated each other. She was the girl with the crush on the football captain who liked nerdy things. I was the boy with no friends and no life. But things went deeper than that.

"Percy!" a voice said snapping me out of my thoughts. "Annabeth! What are you two doing?"

I turned to Mr. Blofis and went, "Huh?"

Annabeth was quick to answer, though. "We were just reading each other's poems. Found out about things that... that we didn't know about each other before. It's surprising but interesting."

He looked between the both of us, a glint in his eye as if he knew something beyond our comprehension. "Of course. Continue."

That being said, he probably knew nothing beyond our comprehension. The answer was probably just floating out in the air waiting for a hand to grasp it. It was just out of our reach. We needed to stretch out more. Nothing is impossible. Except for the fact that we don't know if impossibility exists. Perhaps it does... but how do we know? For one, I could try jumping into a fire while dancing, and staying there, and try to survive. That would be impossible.

For the rest of the class, I spent my time writing notes in my notebook about Annabeth's poem. I tried analyzing it and tried reading between the lines. It was difficult because of the endless possibilities, but by the time class was over, I had a feeling that I had gotten a pretty good view of Annabeth's life outside of school.

The rest of the day passed rather quickly.

At the end of the day, I met Annabeth just at the bus stop in front of the school. She looked a little nervous, but didn't show much of it.

"Annabeth..." I trailed off. I didn't know what to say to her.

"Percy. Your poem... It reminds me of... well, me."

"You like architecture that much?" I asked. "That you would like to see every great monument in the world?"

She nodded shyly.

I was at a loss for words. That was an amazing goal. It would be a really fun adventure to see every great monument the world had to offer. I would also do that if I had the chance. It was too bad that it was highly unlikely. Unless I could earn a lot of money in a short period of time. I didn't exactly come from the richest family.

"Listen," she said, "the stuff that isn't about architecture and books and that sort of stuff... keep it to yourself. I don't want to be known as the freaky nerd whose family hates her. I don't want to feel... like, well, you."

I knew immediately that she could tell how I felt. I knew immediately that she knew my arm brace was for something else... something to do with home. She knew nothing about me yet she knew everything.

"I understand," I replied hoarsely. Looking out at the approaching bus, I suddenly got an idea. "Do you have time right now to come somewhere with me? I want to show you something. A place where I go to take my mind off all of the bad."

"Where is it?" Annabeth asked.

"Do you like surprises?"

* * *

We walked side-by-side through the cemetery, scanning over the plots of graves the littered the park. There were large tombstones for some, and there were small and modest tombstones for others.

All my problems seemed to flood out of my system as we made our way toward one specific tombstone. My mind felt crisper, more sharp, and I felt happier. I felt as though none of my philosophy truly existed. It was just me, Annabeth and the grave of my mother, Sally Jackson.

We hadn't reached it yet but we were close.

"We're here to see your mother's grave," Annabeth said intelligently. "You want to connect with me somehow."

"I don't think it's necessarily connecting, but you can call it that."

At that moment, we arrived at my mother's grave, and like the hundreds of times before, I read the writing on the tombstone:

_Sally Jackson  
1976-1997  
A wonderful, caring mother and wife  
She will be dearly missed by  
friends and family_

She had died so young, just at twenty-one years of age. Despite having a child at that young of an age, I didn't think any less of her. She is and always will be my mother, even in death. I know that seems a little selfish, but that what can you do?

"Hey, mom." My voice cracked a little. "I hope I'm not a disappointment. I know I say this every time I come here, but I want you to know that I try to be the best person I can be. By your standards, obviously. I don't want to be too repetitive but I wish I could have known you even for a little while. I see your face in pictures, and though I look nothing like you, I can tell that a part of you is in me. Something I've only recently thought of is that... that maybe I've seen you in reality before. As if I saw you for a moment that day in the hospital." I let out a humorless laugh.

The more I thought about it, the sadder I got. When you're told great things about parents or close family who you've never seen in your life, you just feel like you're missing out. And the story of how my mother died was just terrible.

"Haemorrhage," I said to Annabeth. My eyes got a little watery. "Ruptured a blood vessel in the vaginal passage."

A hand slipped its way into mine, and I turned toward Annabeth. She looked up at me and gave a reassuring smile. Her eyes were teary as well. She could understand the pain that I felt. She could understand what I was going through. And I knew why.

"How did your mom die?" I asked.

For a moment, she looked surprised, but it faded quickly. "An accident on a construction site when I was five. Her name was Sophia Athene, and she was the architect for a building that was supposed to go up in San Francisco. Up on the fifteenth floor, there was an earthquake tremor that was large enough to send fifteen men and women falling off. One of them was my mom." Her tone was so sad and lost that I couldn't help but feel bad for her.

"My father..." She hesitated and her fingers tingled against my palm. "My dad and my mom had a rocky relationship right from the beginning. They were never married. They never wanted to marry. All they had done was fall in love. And then my dad brought me here and married another woman before having two more children."

"And your relationship with your dad and step-mom is rocky?" I asked.

She didn't answer, but her tightening grip told me what I needed to know.

I swallowed gave her hand a squeeze. She looked up at me. Her eyes were red and puffy. I said, "If life is a game we're meant to lose, we go out with a bang. Right, Annabeth?"

"It doesn't seem fair," she said quietly.

"Life isn't fair. It's powering through this that makes you stronger and better. Trust me on this."

Annabeth took a shaky breath but nodded. We locked eyes, and I noticed the blinds were slightly opened. Against those who desire to take advantage of us, this is when we're most vulnerable. This is when they can take advantage of us by coercion. They can control us and turn us against our regular morals.

But against those who desire safety and security, this is when we're the strongest. This is when we can come together, whether it is as a pair or a group, and face our fears and insecurities as one. _This_ is our _Orbem Formate_.

* * *

**Hey everyone,**

**I hope that you enjoy this chapter. Remember to tell me if you like it or not for feedback! That would be greatly appreciated.**

**Thanks a bunch,  
SharkAttack719**


	4. New Starts and New Wishes

**Another chapter for this story. Yay. There's not much to say other than I hope you criticize it. As I write this story, I too am trying to figure out whether there are answers, finite answers, for these questions. Maybe there are only opinions, and I represent one side of the opinion. I don't know. Just tell me what you think. What do you think of introducing Calypso? Like it? Hate it?**

**Personally, I did this because Percy's conflict will revolve around those two. In turn, Annabeth's conflict with revolve around Luke and Percy. Thalia and Jason will develop into Percy's friends later on, but because of what is going to happen soon, their progress of friendship halts at near zero. You'll see what happens in the next chapter, which I will be working on soon.**

**If you are a reader that also reads the "Everlasting Hero" series, I promise that I will work on that soon. I just need to find a more interesting way of writing it. It's boring writing it to fit with the PJO plot. I may change things up. Maybe put a little Anaklusmos14-like twist by delving into a kick-ass Percy fighting to get something. I think I will be skipping most of the Sea of Monsters because in my story there is little I need to do to make Annabeth change as a person. She's got Percy as a tutor. I'm pretty sure she'll be alright. In the Rise of the Titans, however, you will see a lack of some people (not going to say who) just for the sake of adding in Immortal Demigod Percy. And I can't wait to write the Last Olympian. That will be fun. Also, beginning soon, you will start to learn the relationship between Percy and the Demigod Traitor (I'm pretty sure you already know who it is for those of the 26 of you who follow this story that may not even read "Everlasting Hero"), and you'll learn that Nico opts to take a far different path compared to what Percy did in the PJO series. Anyways...**

**Vote on my poll. I want to see what your favorite story of mine is.**

**Thanks a lot,  
Sharky**

* * *

One month passed, Annabeth somehow managed to convince me to join the swim team, and she finally felt like she knew me enough to introduce me to a couple of her other friends.

"You should really start talking to people, you know," she said. "They'll be your friends if you stop being so dark and depressing."

Honestly, I was uncomfortable about it, but I tried not to show my discomfort.

Something that I had realized during my friendship with Annabeth was that what I thought before... Perhaps some of those things were true. But instead of antagonizing all of those things, I felt like perhaps diversity was supposed to be accepted. Maybe I should have been more accepting.

My mind re-winded back to my elementary and middle school days. As alone as I felt, I remembered that I actually had some friends. It was just that the bullies overshadowed them. There were people like Silena Beauregard, Charles Beckendorf, Nico and Bianca di Angelo, and Leo Valdez. There was Reyna Avila Ramírez-Arellano.

What had happened to them?

They left me, either by physically leaving or suicide, and I had always blamed the bullies and my luck. The further back my mind re-winded, the more I realized that I wasn't always the same person.

Somehow, Annabeth had brought that ideology about myself out.

I found myself feeling more upbeat. I found myself feeling happier more often. Even Gabe noticed it, and I found myself fighting back more often without getting hurt. The arm brace had been long gone. It was as if an inner me had been reignited.

Yet I knew that I couldn't just rely on _one_ person. What would happen if that person turned against me? I needed more than just one person. Still, Annabeth was my main focus. She was the one who I wanted to decipher.

For once I thanked my "sudden disappearance" at school. At least this way, people would only remember that they bullied me when they really thought about it. I'm pretty sure that so much had gone through everyone's lives that they just forgot about me. It was like starting fresh... starting anew.

_Whatever bad occurs a good seems to emerge out of it_.

Maybe this was life's message to tell me that I had a chance to change myself for the better. Perhaps I have learned from my tests. I learn that the world is cruel and humans are evil; however, in this next lesson, I learn that despite those negatives, we are humans and we have the capability to accept diversity and to persevere through the evil.

Perhaps Annabeth is the world's message to me: _Despite all the negatives, the only way you will succeed is if you stay positive about life._

The thoughts were so radical I often found my head rattling from the change.

And so when I walked through the front doors of Goode High trailing behind Annabeth on the fourth of November, I practically had no idea what in the world was happening.

I followed her through the hallways until we came to the lockers of two very familiar-looking people.

One was a tall, blonde guy with icy blue eyes, and the other was a shorter, black-haired girl with electric blue eyes. Well, the black-haired girl wasn't actually that much shorter. She was around two inches shorter than me, and the blonde was around an inch taller than me. Annabeth was the shortest here.

"Hey Annabeth!" Jason, the blonde, greeted.

"Who's this?" Thalia, the girl, said rudely.

"It's Percy Jackson," Annabeth replied. "Jeez, you don't even recognize him from math class?"

"Well, probably because he doesn't sit anywhere near me," she said. She turned to look at me, and I took that time to look at her outfit.

Her black hair was cut short and spiked up. Her electric blue eyes seemed to be pulsing with electricity, ready to attack someone. A splash of freckles dotted her nose and cheeks, and skull ear rings dangled from her ears. She wore a leather jacket with camouflage pants and had army boots. The shirt inside of the leather jacket said DEATH TO BARBIE with a picture of a Barbie doll with an arrow going through its head.

The first stereotype came to my head: Goth.

I glanced at Jason.

His blonde hair was cut military style. He looked quite different from Luke, who had short-cropped hair that settled elegantly on both sides of his head. It was parted in the middle of his head so he didn't really have bangs. His icy blue eyes stared at me indifferently. He had a purple shirt and jeans along with track shoes.

"Percy," Annabeth said, "these two are Thalia and Jason Grace. They're fraternal twins."

"I can tell they're fraternal," I replied.

Jason thrust his hand forward. "Nice to meet you, Percy."

I took it warily. Jason's grip was firm and assertive. "Nice to meet you too, Jason."

Thalia didn't even bother. It was obvious that she didn't think much of me. I wasn't surprised though it did throw me off a little bit. I tried maintaining a positive attitude, but it was hard considering she was looking at him as if he were some pest or something.

"Well, look at what we all have next _together_," Annabeth said stressing the word together. It felt nice that she was actually attempting to make the Grace twins at least talk to me. "Math!"

"Woop-dee-doo," Thalia grumbled. "Another subject I hate."

Heading through the hallway, the four of us made our way to math class. I wanted to see what Thalia acted like normally, so I dropped back a bit. I was glad that Annabeth was too busy talking to her to notice that I fell back. When Jason turned around to glance at me questioningly, I gave him a discreet nod. He seemed to get the message.

The closer they got to class, the more talkative Thalia became. The two girls started talking about how their weekends were. I knew that Annabeth had hung out with me on Saturday, but I didn't talk to her on Sunday. I hoped she didn't tell them anything personal. Considering she hid the truth about her mother from the other two, my hopes were high.

Math class was always different compared to other classes because instead of individual desks, there were large tables that three or four people could sit at. Annabeth forced the four of them to sit at the same table. Since no one could sit facing the back of the classroom, Thalia and Annabeth sat on the side facing the front together while Jason and I sat on the ends. Mind you that the tables were rectangles.

"So, Percy Jackson," Thalia said.

I turned to her.

She tried to give me a look of indifference like Jason, but I could tell there was a tiny spark of curiosity in her eyes. "Where do you come from?"

"I've lived in New York all of my life," I replied blatantly. "Never been anywhere else."

"You got a dad?"

"My step-dad says he's dead."

"Your dad's dead?" asked a surprised Annabeth. "You never told me that."

I shrugged. "Never really came up."

"Huh..." Thalia trailed off. She glanced at Jason, who was giving her an alarmed look. For what reason... I didn't know.

"What's wrong, Jason?" I asked, wanting to prod deeper into the subject. "Why do you look alarmed?"

Jason actually gave me an honest answer. He rolled his eyes and gave me an exasperated sigh. "My sister really doesn't trust people ever since what happened. Annabeth knows but... I don't know if Thalia wants to share that with you yet. Considering we met like five minutes ago."

"And you're alarmed because...?"

Nervously, Jason replied, "It gives off the wrong impression considering we're twins. There's always this rumor going around that we can read each other's minds. Twin telepathy or something. I'm just worried you'll think I hate you immediately too."

I raised an eyebrow. "Why would I hate you just because you hate me? That's like fighting fire with fire. It doesn't work. Trust me. I've been alone my entire life." I hesitated for a moment but eventually said, "I think I can handle someone hating me. My step-father's been training me for that." I laughed a bitter laugh.

"Touchy subject," Annabeth said quickly as if she knew the other two were about to ask about my tone.

"Well, don't mind my sister," Jason said. "You'll get used to her. That is if you actually want to hang out with us. Which we will completely accepting of, right Thalia?" His last words were stressed.

"Who knows?" she shrugged.

For the block we were assigned textbook questions just like usual. A few pages of extremely easy math. That was why Thalia, Jason, Annabeth and I spent most of the block talking. Annabeth did quite a fine job with multitasking. She was far more focused on math though.

"So you don't really do work either?" Thalia asked me.

I shook my head. Grinning, she held up a finger. I gave her a confused look before she rolled her eyes and explained. "Finger tap. We're not friends yet. You'll get high-fives then, but for now it's finger taps. The closer you get to five, the tighter we are. That's one plus about you. Not doing work."

"Well... it's only in math and science and history and electives and, well, anything but English."

"English?" Jason gave me a questioning look. "Why English? What's so special about English?"

"It's the one place where I can actually express thoughts and emotions," I said. Tapping my pencil on the table, I continued, "If you actually think about it, writing is a good way to express your thoughts and things like that. Stories, more often than not, are the most powerful way of making our brains think. Because stories generally make humans connect with the characters, right? Essays are boring, don't you think?"

"Essays aren't boring!" exclaimed Annabeth.

I leaned back into my chair. "Yes they are. You have to actually back up things with valid points. I'm more of an opinion-based person. Poetry is also pretty fun."

Annabeth shook her head in exasperation before turning back to her math work.

I looked up to the Grace twins, who were both staring at me awkwardly. They were making me feel a little uncomfortable. Or as I could say in Spanish, _Ellos me estaban molestando con sus miradas._ I wasn't sure if that was right, but that was my best guess from what I knew. Why Spanish? I don't know.

After what seemed like forever, the other two finally spoke again. Thalia said, "Percy. Are you sure you know nothing about your dad?"

I shook my head. "I don't know anything. Why do you ask again?"

"Does your mom have green eyes or black hair?"

"I've seen pictures of her," I said. "But she looks nothing like me. She had brown hair, warm brown eyes and fair skin. As you can tell, I don't have any of those features. Why do you keep asking that?"

"My jackass of a dad used to ramble on about someone who looked like you," Thalia said still staring at his features. "Obviously it can't be you because he said it was before we were born. You are our age."

I shrugged. "Then I can't help you any further. Might have been my dad. I suppose that's where I would get my physical appearance from, right?"

The Grace twins fell silent for the rest of the period.

After that, I had classes without any of them, not even Annabeth, until the end of the day. Unfortunately that mean that I had to sit alone once again. It was probably a bad thing yet I thought it was also a good thing. At least this way, I would be able to think about my problems without any interruptions. I remembered the questions that Thalia had asked me.

Was there a possibility that their father knew mine? Would I finally be able to learn about who my father truly was?

After school I had swim practice, so I said goodbye to Annabeth quickly before I departed for the change rooms. Goode High had a pretty nice swimming pool. It wasn't the best, but it was far better than some other swimming pools I'd been to. Luke's swimming pool was better.

I quickly got into my swimsuit and went to the poolside. The coach, Coach Hedge, patted my back as I passed by. "Four laps to warm up, Jackson. Let's go!"

I'm not sure why I never really tried swimming before because I realized quickly that I was pretty good at it. I was nowhere near national level but I figured I would be decent at the state championships. I tried not to let it get to my head, though. I didn't want to be even more hypocritical than I was already.

I mean, I criticize others when I do the exact same things. Who's there to say I didn't behave in such ways that are "bad" or "evil"?

Following Coach Hedge's orders, I put on my goggles and dove into the pool and began swimming my warm up laps. I mostly did front crawl though I added a little bit of breaststroke in with it. When I finished, I noticed that the best female swimmer on the team was prepping for her warm up. She was tucking her caramel-golden hair into her swim cap. Her almond eyes suddenly disappeared under her goggles and she dove in.

Goode High had a relatively small swim team. There were just three guys and five girls. We had already gone to one meet and other teams had triple our numbers... our total number.

The best female swimmer's name was Calypso. Her name is still Calypso to this day, but she's no longer a swimmer.

I remembered that I had dated her for a month in seventh grade. We were pretty young so I don't think it was that serious for the time. After seventh grade, she seemed to forget about me and we hadn't spoken since.

_Should I take Annabeth's advice?_ I thought. _Should I start conversing with people to make them stop thinking I was some freak who was dark and depressing?_

Coach Hedge made us all practice our butterfly, which wasn't exactly my strongest stroke. So for two and a half hours, with the occasional breaks, I practiced my butterfly. Coach Hedge was more a baseball coach than a swim coach, so it wasn't a surprise that the time wasn't spent that efficiently. It didn't matter though. For me, it was a good opportunity for me to practice my butterfly.

After practice was done, I decided that I would take Annabeth's advice. I went to the locker room, changed as quickly as I could, and went outside and sat on the bench. It was an indoor bench that had a water fountain right to its side. It was a place where kids could rest after sports things were done.

When the other two guys came out, I said "See ya." to them and watched as they left. A couple of the other girls came out after Calypso, and to my surprise, they noticed me. They said a farewell to me for the day before departing.

Calypso was the last one to leave the girls' locker room and seemed surprised that I was still there.

"Percy Jackson? What are you still doing here?"

"Hey, Calypso." I gave her a tight smile. "Listen, I was just wondering whether you could help me with my butterfly the next time we practice. I tried doing it alone... and you're the best butterfly-er-er on the team."

She snorted in a sort of laughter. "Butterfly-er-er?"

I blushed. "Well, 'butterflyer' isn't a word, is it?"

"No. It isn't. But sure. I'll be glad to help you. A smarter idea, though, probably would have been to tell me before the change room. You just wasted precious time you could have spent at home."

I shrugged not really wanting to elaborate on how my home wasn't the place where I could spend precious time, but said, "School is better than home."

I got up and thanked her. I began to walk down the hallway toward the exit. I wasn't in any hurry, but I decided that it was better for me to leave first so I didn't have to watch Calypso thinking out loud about how weird I was.

I had just reached the exit when a voice called, "Wait!"

I turned around. It was Calypso.

She ran up to me, and I noticed she was wearing a cute white blouse and faded jeans. The outfit suited her. "Listen, I was going to walk home, but... I'd appreciate a ride. I'm pretty tired from practice."

It took me a moment to register what she had said and then another moment to register the fact that this sounded eerily similar to that day around a month ago when Annabeth and first asked me for a ride home. I remembered that day quite vividly.

I was apparently humming "Can You Feel the Love Tonight" by Elton John when Annabeth came up to me to ask for a ride home. That had all started with me attempting to talk to her. I wonder what would have happened if I'd never spoken to her that day.

But I was glad that I had spoken to Annabeth and taken her home. That point had marked my life rebuild. She was my first friend in a long time, and perhaps Calypso could be another.

I didn't even bother to ask how she knew I already had a car. "Sure. I'll give you a ride."

It was in that moment that probably defined my entire future. Had I not chosen to talk to Calypso, my life would be radically different. It would be then when my LaVeyan Satanist beliefs would be put to the test.

* * *

**Hey everyone,**

**I hope that you enjoy this chapter. Remember to tell me if you like it or not for feedback! That would be greatly appreciated.**

**Thanks a bunch,  
SharkAttack719**


	5. It Turns Right Back Around

**Everything goes wrong now. Just as the good has been building up. Will Percy stay true to his words in the first chapter? Or will he disregard them in utter frustration and lack of faith? Read to see what went wrong.**

**SharkAttack719**

* * *

"So, are you coming to the party this weekend?" Annabeth asked me.

I looked at her with an amused look. "Party? What party and why would I go?"

"The party at Luke's house!" she exclaimed. "And you'll go because I say so."

"Well. Taking the direct approach, I see."

"You're impossible."

"You're a great friend, you know that?"

Another month (and a half) had passed, and there was a Christmas party being held at Luke's mansion of a house. Of course, I wasn't too fond of going, but I thought that it would be an interesting opportunity for me to connect with people. It turned out that I wasn't too bad at it. Calypso had even called me funny. It was a pretty good step by my standards.

"Feeling like being sarcastic, huh Percy?"

I sighed and leaned back in my seat. We were in English class... at least... preparing for English. "Of course I'll come, Annabeth. Never doubt me."

The blinds fluttered.

"Don't worry about it," she reassured. "I'll show you that there can be a balance between what you consider evil and good. Sometimes you just have to accept who you are and who others are. It's not like you can control them. You're not a god."

I nodded and then turned my attention back to the front of the classroom. Mr. Blofis entered and said, "All right, class. We are going to be doing haikus today! Does anybody know what the standard form of haikus is? And where it originates?"

Glancing at Annabeth, I raised my hand. She nodded encouragingly. My arm and hand were erect in the air. Mr. Blofis pointed at me. "Yes, Percy."

"Five-seven-five format," I said. "Meaning syllables. And it originates from Japan."

"Would you like to present us with an example of a haiku?"

"Sure." Nervously, I tried to think of something that didn't sound stupid. I could feel the eyes of the class on me, all of them indifferent. I didn't reassure me that they weren't making fun of me. It actually made me feel more uncertain, more afraid.

"_Life is like the dark,  
with a white light at the end.  
To the afterlife._"

The class was silent.

"Interesting," Mr. Blofis mused. "All right. Why don't we get started on learning the principles of haiku poems?"

Turning to Annabeth, I swallowed hard. Did I mess up my shot? How had I done in front of the class? It was almost as if I depended on her. As if she were my oxygen tank. But when I looked over, all I could find on her face was a sad, large smile.

"Did I do all right?" I asked her.

She continued smiling. "That's really deep."

I gave her a uncertain look. "What's really deep?"

"What you said. Because it can be true. If there's anything I've learned from you, it is that humans strive to be the best they can be... which can be represented like a star. They want to feel like they have a purpose. That is like being a star in the darkness of the cosmos. And then in the afterlife, they are free from all of the pain they endure during life. They're free from the darkness."

I cracked a small grin. It felt nice that I actually made an impression on her. Despite having known her well for just a couple months now, I felt as though we'd known each other for forever. I felt as though we were two people that were destined to fit with one another.

"Well, one thing I've learned from you, or am going to learn from your, is that humans are free to do what they please," I said. "Everyone has different beliefs, different morals. I'm going to have to learn to accept that."

Annabeth nodded, as if she knew she had broken through to me. "That's the idea. Pick me up this Saturday at six."

"So tomorrow at six."

"Pretty much," she laughed.

The rest of English class passed without any difficulty.

At lunch, I saw Annabeth, Thalia and Jason sitting at a table, all laughing and joking around. There was room for two more people, so I wasn't worried that someone might take the spots from me. I went to the cafeteria line up and bought a burger. The school burgers were okay, but they weren't the best. They were like McDonalds quality. I also got some French fries and a bottle of water.

Once all of the food was on the tray, I thanked the lunch lady before turning around and nearly crashing into someone.

She helped me re-balance my tray after I swerved to the side to avoid her.

My eyes slowly trailed up from bottom up. I started at a pair of hiking boots before making my way up to faded jeans, and then a fleece snowboarding jacket. Her chocolate brown hair was cut choppy and uneven, with thin strands braided down the sides. She wore no makeup like she was trying not to draw attention to herself, and her eyes seemed to change color like a kaleidoscope—brown, blue, green.

There was no denying that she was pretty, but I didn't feel attracted to her. For some reason, she looked familiar to me.

"Oh, I'm so sorry!" she cried. Looking up into my eyes, she straightened up and said, "I'm Piper McLean. Do you know Jason Grace?"

So this was Jason's girlfriend. What was she doing here?

"Uh, yeah," I said. "Follow me."

Partially stunned, I made my way over to the other three. None of them noticed me, and Piper hung around behind me, as if she were nervous to show herself to Jason. I saw and heard some of the guys wolf-whistling at Piper as she passed by. Like I said, there was no denying that she was pretty.

"Jason," I called. "You, uh, have a visitor."

Annabeth, Thalia and Jason looked up, and Piper popped out from behind me.

"Hey, Jason," she said waving.

At first, his expression was one of disbelief, then it morphed into shock, and then it morphed into surprise, and then lastly it morphed into one of excitement. He slid back out of his seat and stood up. Piper was half a head shorter than him.

"Pipes!" He kissed her, and I noticed that her face went pink. "What are you doing here?"

"I was going to ask the same thing," I noted.

"Well..." Piper chuckled nervously. "I'm transferring to Goode High next week."

"Really?" Thalia asked, peeking her head around, and Piper seemed to notice her for the first time.

"Thalia?" she exclaimed, and the two of them fist-bumped.

From what I could tell, Piper was quite a tomboyish girl. Like Thalia except in a different way. As much as Piper was tomboyish, there was this aura around her that she would never be able to get rid of. She would always be cute, pretty and beautiful despite what she did. Thalia was pretty except she had this look to her that smelled of danger. She was the kind of person that guys who wanted a challenge would go after.

Annabeth watched happily in the background as Jason sat Piper down next to him. He moved Thalia over to Annabeth's side, and I took the head seat. I ate my food as Jason began re-telling the stories of when he and Piper had first met.

"It was at this 'Wilderness School' back when I went to middle school," Jason said. "I used to go to a different school than Thalia and Annabeth, so I kind of grew up estranged from them. But in seventh grade, I grew a crush on Piper."

"I used to date this Latino-elf kid named Leo Valdez, but he left the school in sixth grade," Piper said. "I don't know where he went but I heard somewhere that he'd committed suicide. That story is sometimes hard to hear because he was a good friend."

I dropped my burger.

_Leo Valdez_. The name echoed in my ears.

"Percy? Are you okay?"

My eyes snapped open, and I realized that I'd gone into some kind of trance. All four of the others were looking at me in concern. Piper gave me a morose look. "You knew him, didn't you."

Annabeth, Thalia and Jason looked at me expectantly.

"Yeah," I said, my voice feeling dry. "He killed himself in eighth grade."

Before anyone could stop me, I went on a roll of story-telling. "When I first met Leo, he was just some kid that my step-father was adopting. But as time passed, my understanding of him grew further and further. He told me that ever since he was little, he'd been on the run from foster home to foster home. He always blamed himself for his mother's death. She died in the collapse of a workshop when he was eight. He went to another school, the one I think you called 'Wilderness School,' but felt that he didn't fit there. He said that ever since Mr. Perfect arrived at the school..." I glanced up at Jason, whose face looked tight. "He'd been feeling worse and worse about himself. He left, came into foster care with me and my step-father for two years, went to middle school in Brooklyn, and then killed himself by hanging himself. His story was in the news for a little while, but his name obviously faded back into emptiness."

Piper was teary-eyed now. "Oh, poor Leo."

"I'm... I'm Mr. Perfect?" Jason was too stunned to even bother comforting Piper. "How am I Mr. Perfect?" He looked around at us demanding for an answer. "I can't be the reason why a boy killed himself."

"You are tall and handsome," I said nervously. "And you do have a strict sense of honor and pride. In a way, you are 'perfect.'"

Annabeth gave me a curious look. Her eyes asked him, _How many more people do you know that have killed themselves?_

"Too many," I said out loud.

Thalia, Jason and Piper snapped their attention to me, but I kept my eyes firmly on Annabeth so they would know who I was referring to.

"I can relate to you," I told her, "but I know what it is like to have those around me give up. There are people who just can't take it. Their pasts are too unsettling and too depressing that they just can't handle the pressure of all of the negativity."

The rest of Jason's story didn't sound interesting, and my burger seemed even less appetizing than it was before.

The final block of the day was math, and like it had been for the past month, I sat with Annabeth, Thalia and Jason.

"Jason, it's not your fault," I said when he sat down.

His eyes seemed colder than usual, but I could see the pain in his eyes. It was hard enough knowing someone close to you had killed themselves. To know that you caused their death was another thing. If your name wasn't Luke Castellan, though, you wouldn't feel bad about being the cause of someone's death.

Luke hadn't cared when Nico di Angelo killed himself. Hell, he had been ecstatic. Social media had its advantages and disadvantages. I couldn't imagine what things had happened in Luke's childhood to make him this destructive, evil creature. Maybe all of my values of evil and good were based on Luke Castellan. He had been my torturer in elementary school and been several others' bully throughout elementary, middle _and_ high school.

That was when Bianca di Angelo, Nico's twin sister, left me. I'd never heard of or from her since.

"How can it not be my fault?" he said monotonously. "I'm Mr. Perfect. I get girls because I'm handsome, I'm tall and I look fit. You wouldn't know what it's like to know that you caused someone to kill themselves." He inclined his head toward me. His eyes were red.

I stared evenly back at him. Throughout the past month, I had grown close to the friends that Annabeth had introduced me to. Jason was like a brother to me. The brother I never had. Finally, I had people in my life who cared for me as much as I cared for them. They'd accepted me. I'd accepted them. Even Thalia, who had been cold to me at first, warmed up and eventually considered me a good friend. Just a month and my life had seemingly changed.

"You can't choose where you come from, Jason," I said. "You can't control who your parents are. You can't control where you are raised. You can't control what others think of you. What you can control is where you go coming from all of this. Will you drown yourself in your own sorrow, or do something to help others who go through those experiences?"

I didn't realize until much, much later that I was being hypocritical.

When did I ever help my friends? I just stood there and watched as they killed themselves or ran away. I didn't do anything. Not Silena, whom was bullied to death because she was pretty. Not Beckendorf, whom had run away after Silena killed herself. Not Reyna, whom ran off when she realized that she had no purpose in life.

I remembered the echoes of Reyna's last words to me: "Nihilist. I'm a nihilist, Percy. Remember what you always told me? That I can't control where I come from? This is what it has turned me into."

Thalia and Annabeth soon sat down, both looking quite worried for Jason. Piper had long since gone home.

"Jason." Thalia laid a gentle hand on Jason's shoulder. "Leo made his choice because of who he was. His past was terrible. You can do something about it or you can just sit here and cry about it like some sort of baby."

"I'm not a baby," he growled. "Think about it? What if you had inadvertently caused Annabeth to kill herself? How would you feel?"

"That's different," Thalia scowled. "Annabeth's my best friend. You barely knew Leo Valdez."

"Shows how much you care," Jason snapped. "How about Percy, then? We know you hated him at first. How would you feel if you caused him to kill himself? I don't think you would feel too high about yourself, would you?"

I stared curiously at Thalia, waiting for her answer. Her glance softened, and she sighed in defeat. "I would feel bad about it. Despite whatever differences we had... it's never good to feel good about someone's death."

She locked eyes with me, and I gave her a thankful smile.

"Think of it this way, Jason," I said, turning to him. "You've released him from his pain on earth. He may have taken the easy route out of the pain and suffering, but at least he's no longer feeling that anymore."

"How do you know?" Jason asked. "How do you know that the afterlife is so much better than this life? How do you know that we're not in some afterlife of our own? What if true life is like what the Greeks said Tartarus was like? Endless pain, suffering and misery. All of the most hideous, dangerous creatures go there after their essences are released from the Over world."

"Jason—"

"But you're right," he interrupted, wiping his face. "There's no point in sitting around moping about it. Either I do something about it or I sit here and accept who I am: Mr. Perfect."

"You have friends," Annabeth told him reassuringly, patting his shoulder. "No matter what you say... no matter what you endure, we'll always be at your side. Whether that means physically or spiritually, we don't know. Just take it easy and relax."

"Take it easy and relax," he murmured. "Yeah."

* * *

Calypso stood at the pool's edge in her swimsuit as she fixed her goggles. For a moment, my testosterone kicked in, but I quickly caught myself and controlled my teenage emotions.

The crowd in the bleachers roared as the girls from eight different schools began making their way to the starting platform. I caught Calypso's eyes and gave her a thumbs up. She grinned back at me and got up on her platform.

It was just a day after the Jason-Leo drama, and I was at a Manhattan swim meet preparing to face off against the best swimmers in the five boroughs of New York. I would be racing in the 100 meter freestyle, the 50 meter butterfly, 100 meter individual medley and the 100 meter breaststroke.

It would be a tiring and gruelling day.

My hypothesis turned out to be correct because by the time I was done the breaststroke, I felt as though I'd just run a marathon. That's how tired I was. I came first in the freestyle and individual medley, second in the breaststroke and fifth in butterfly. I was extremely lucky in the individual medley because after butterfly, I was down by at least ten meters. I caught up with backstroke, pulled slightly ahead with the breaststroke, and killed the front crawl (a.k.a. freestyle).

I'd spent the past month training as hard as I could for the swimming competition because I felt like it was the one place where I could prove to myself that I wasn't such a lazy idiot. I wanted to prove to myself that I could involve myself in physical activity and not be that bad at it.

After the races, I went to the changing rooms to change into regular clothes. Inside, I got a whole bunch of grudging and less-grudging congratulations. I found the kids who had done better than me in the butterfly and congratulated them. They looked relatively surprised that I was genuine about it. And the seventeen year old that beat me in the breaststroke was so surprised how I had performed during the day's events that he said to me, "Damn, dude. I've never seen you in a competition before, but you're really good at swimmin'. It'd be funny if you'd never swam before this, bro."

If only he knew how "funny" that was.

When Calypso saw me exit the change room, she ran up to me and gave me a giant hug. "Oh my God! You did so well out there!"

Laughing, I patted her on the back. "You did great as well."

I hoped no one was looking at my slightly embarrassed face over her shoulder.

"Thanks," she said back. "Second, second, first, second." Then she pulled back and held me at arm's length. "But we still need to work on that butterfly."

"Yeah. We do."

We were the only two swimmers that had made it into the competition from our school, so we went travelling in Hedge's little hatchback. Calypso and I sat in the back while Coach Hedge drove in the front with his ear buds in his ears.

"So you coming to Luke's party tomorrow?" I asked. "The start of Winter Break?"

"Yeah, I'm going," she said, brushing her hair back. "I think everybody's going... aside from those Luke likes to push around, obviously. They're not masochistic. But it's going to be a fun party nonetheless. Get to hang out with friends."

"And drink and smoke?" I pointed out, raising an eyebrow.

"One can won't do you any harm," Calypso said shrugging her shoulders. "As long as you don't chug it down. Drink it slowly. Be polite about it."

"Well, that's a first," I told her. "Everyone I've seen chugs it down like they're trying to choke themselves on alcohol. I don't think that's a very healthy way of living. Too much alcohol can kill your liver."

"Some people are just too ignorant," she said. "And about smoking... well, I wouldn't do that even if it couldn't kill me. I'm just unsettled at the fact of inhaling fire. Trust me, I can work in a workshop with furnaces, but smoking is a big NO."

"What about tobacco?"

"I'm also afraid of that."

It was hard not to laugh at her facial expression. Just seeing it made my body surge with delight and joy. Yeah. Something had definitely changed in me since that day I'd taken Annabeth home. It was hard not to notice it.

"So who are you going with?" I asked.

"By myself on the bus," she said. "I usually meet friends there. Who are you going with?"

"I'm driving Annabeth, Thalia and Jason," I replied. "You know those three, right?"

Calypso nodded. "The Grace twins and the smartest student in our grade. Good friends. How long have they been your friends? I mean, the details of _us_ are getting less hazy, and I remember I left you in seventh grade after we dated for a month. But I don't remember what happened to you in between."

"I've been friends with Thalia and Jason just about as long as I began talking to you again," I told her, a hint of sadness in my voice. Despite how good it felt to have friends again, I felt pathetic knowing that I'd only been friends with my current friends since October at the earliest, that one being Annabeth.

"Oh, really?" She looked surprised. "That short of a time?"

"Yup," I said laughing. "It doesn't matter though. They're friends, and that's good to know."

"Well, if you bring your swimsuit to Luke's mansion of a house, we can have a little race," Calypso said hopefully.

"Why not?"

"Great. I can't wait to see you there tomorrow."

"You too, Callie."

She blushed. "Callie?"

"A nickname."

She shook her head playfully but couldn't seem to muster up any more words. I tried not to laugh at her frustrating attempt to tell me something, but the effort she made just put me over the edge. Calypso reminded me a lot of the Caribbean. For some reason, Calypso had that feel about her... despite the fact that her skin was milky white like a descendant of Europe.

And I could no longer deny that I had crushes on two girls.

If I could meet Cupid one day, I'd kick his ass for making me feel this way.

The next night, Gabe was passed out on the floor, drunk and naked. A naked woman laid in his arms, the carpet next to them stained with vomit and... other stuff. I wrote a note describing where I was going, and for a moment, thought about stapling the message to his forehead. But I decided to be nice and just taped it to his tongue.

"5:45," I told myself as I got into my Prius. "Fifteen minutes to get to Annabeth, Thalia and Jason. No problem."

I turned on the ignition and changed gear. For some reason I had a bad feeling about tonight. Something was going to go wrong. I glanced back at my house and couldn't help but feel dread. Shaking my head, I tried to clear the thoughts.

_It's just my negativity,_ I told myself. _Nothing's going to happen_.

Still, when I drove off, I had that terrible feeling...

Annabeth was dressed pretty nicely for a Christmas party. She was wearing a skirt, which I'd never seen her in, and though it was simple and grey, I thought it looked pretty nice on her. She wore a denim jacket over a plain orange T-shirt. Thalia was dressed in her usual scary outfit, and Jason wore an orange T-shirt with the word SPARTACUS across his chest tonight.

I parked my car in Luke's enormous driveway before the four of us entered the party. The entire house was decorated with red, green and white. There was a giant Christmas tree in the front area. Immediately, I saw Luke come over with Ethan Nakamura and a couple other of his friends.

"Look at who it is!" the football captain exclaimed. "The smartest girl in our grade, the least-similar looking twins this world has ever seen, and our new swimming guy champion! Congratulations, Percy!"

He must have noticed my confused look. "Don't think I didn't hear about that competition, Jackson. Everything to do with sports passes through me, even before the seniors. Coach Hedge told me you were like a ninja in the water."

I laughed uncertainly. "Yeah. A ninja in the water."

"Cool. Cool. All right! Have fun and Merry Christmas you four."

As he passed by, I could smell the alcohol in his breath. Looking at Annabeth, I cocked my head. "You're hyperventilating."

When I said that, Annabeth just took notice that she was hyperventilating and blushed. "I am not!"

Ignoring the feelings in my chest, I laughed at her embarrassment. Thalia and Jason had joined in. After a few minutes of exploring the house, I realized that we'd come back to the entrance of the mansion. I was just about to suggest getting something to eat when someone tapped my shoulder from behind me. When I saw who it was, a wide grin split my face.

"Calypso!"

"Hey, Percy!" She hugged me.

When she let go, she greeted the other three. "Hey, Thalia. Jason. Annabeth. Wow, Jason. You're so tall now!"

"Hey, Calypso," Thalia said with a hint of a smile. "How's it going?"

"Good. You beat Percy up yet?"

"Not yet."

"Um," I spoke up, "yet implies that you're planning to do it in the future. Or that you _may_ do it in the future."

"Exactly." Thalia's grin was wickedly evil... not in the bad way. But it was scary enough to make me fear for my safety. At least I knew that she'd be doing it playfully rather than actually beating the life out of me.

"Ready for our little race?" Calypso asked me, a glint of anticipation in her eyes.

"As ready as I'll ever be at a Christmas party," I responded.

We got changed quickly and made our way to the swimming pool in the back. There were a whole bunch of teenagers enjoying their tropical smoothies when we got there, and the crowd was large when we began our race.

"Three!" someone announced. "Two! One! Go!"

Both Calypso and I darted forward with butterfly. She was far better at me in the butterfly so she gained an early lead. When we got to the next wall, she elegantly flipped off the wall with ease, and I realized that she was really into the race.

_All right_, I thought. _Bring it on_.

And then I started my push. The water flowed past me as I began swimming backwards. Backstroke came to me a lot easier than butterfly, and the water seemed to pulse around me. It felt like the entire pool was resonating; I could feel exactly where I was going. I noticed a slight splash right behind me and knew Calypso had taken her second turn.

I flipped underwater as quickly as I could and began breaststroke. I could see Calypso's legs pumping the water back right in front of me. This was my chance to pull ahead. This was my chance to secure victory against the girl who'd pretty much taught me from scratch. The only difference was that I somehow felt comfortable in water wherever I went.

We made our last turn at the exact same moment. My breath was getting shorter and shorter, but this was the final 25 meters of the race. I could win this. I didn't feel anything going on around me until I hit the wall. I came above water and a huge roar washed over my ears. I'd beaten Calypso by a couple of inches.

She pulled up and held onto the wall. Pulling her goggles off, she said, "Nice race, Jackson. I won't underestimate you next time."

Our noses were almost touching.

"Make out!" a drunken voice slurred, and the crowd began chanting. "Kiss! Kiss! Kiss!"

I glanced up around the pool and saw Annabeth standing on the ledge awaiting in anticipation. For a moment, I had this crazy idea: Annabeth had feelings for me. I knew she liked Luke. It was quite blatantly obvious. But could she have feelings for me as well.

Before I could ponder any more on that subject, a soft pair of hands grabbed my face, and Calypso's lips pressed against mine. My right hand was on her back. When we pulled away from one another, Calypso seemed to realize what she had just done.

"Oh... Percy. I didn't mean to... Oh, you must think I'm just—" She cut herself off and hurriedly jumped out of the pool.

I looked at Annabeth, who was staring at me with a sort of mysterious look. She looked as though she were trying to decipher who I was, as if she couldn't believe that I'd just kissed Calypso. I could hardly believe it either.

She turned and briskly left right on Calypso's heels.

The crowd was cheering, as if some great achievement had been conquered.

I went upstairs, changed back into my normal clothing before I found Calypso. She was standing on the balcony of the master bedroom, looking up at the stars.

"I wish I could see them, you know," she said without turning to look. "All of the stars."

"They say the stars look beautiful," I agreed. I walked up from behind her and put a hand on her hand. "Listen, Calypso. I don't think any less of you just because you decided to kiss me."

"It was peer pressure," she admitted. "I'm sorry if I made you feel uncomfortable or anything."

"It's all right, Callie. Sometimes we have a certain someone we just act impulsively around. I guess I'm that someone for you."

"Who's your certain somebody?" Calypso asked me, as if she already knew it wasn't her.

"How do you know it's not you?"

"Maybe it is."

She leaned her head on my shoulder.

"It's not," I said. "I'm sorry, but you'll always be special to me. Maybe us dating would work out. I mean, it worked out in seventh grade, right?"

She laughed. "For a month, yeah. But it _did_ work out."

"Perhaps..." I trailed off, and suddenly my stomach dropped.

Calypso seemed to notice my change in mood. "What's wrong, Percy?"

A scream came from downstairs, and I immediately burst out of the room. She was hot on my heels, not daring to say a word. I was halfway down the stairs when I froze. Jason was lying on the ground, blood trickling out of a wound in his upper right chest.

Thalia was kneeling next to him, a hand up to cover her face.

"Thalia Grace," said the intruder in a voice that sounded familiar to me. Too familiar. "It's so nice to see you again, my little angel."

Luke was standing at the side of the room, his eyes wide in terror. The intruder was holding an assault rifle. And apparently one that was loaded. Then I saw the intruder's face. It was brutally shaped; the man looked like a fat old walrus.

"Perseus Jackson," Gabe Ugliano hissed.

"What are you doing here?"

"You left some interesting names on that note, Percy," my step-father said cruelly. "Thalia and Jason Grace. I haven't heard those names in forever."

"Percy," Calypso croaked in fear. She didn't utter another word.

I slowly made my way forward, my arms raised above my head in a gesture of surrender. The party was now dead silent. Nobody said anything. I glanced back down at Jason. Thalia was doing her best to hold the wound closed, but I could see the blood oozing out.

"What did you do?" I asked in rage.

Gabe just laughed. "To let everyone know that Percy Jackson's step-father wounded a good-looking kid from school! What else?"

A wave of whispering erupted from the surrounding crowd.

I stared at Gabe in disbelief. "You shot my friend! I'll kill you, you son of a—"

Police sirens wailed in the distance.

"Too late, Percy," Gabe said evilly. "Looks like the cops are here to interrupt your murder."

The minute passed far faster than I could have ever imagined. The cops burst through the doors, tackled Gabe, and arrested him. The ambulance wasn't far behind. I watched as the paramedics loaded Jason up onto a stretcher. Thalia was allowed to sit in the ambulance with him, and I could never forget the face of loathing she was giving me, as if it were my fault.

My entire body felt numb when the police called my name. I glanced back at Annabeth, who after making eye contact with me for a second, dropped her gaze.

The feeling of dread settled into the pit of my stomach. A new test had been thrown at me. Life's cruel jokes weren't over yet.

And I was furious.

* * *

**Hey everyone,**

**I hope that you enjoy this chapter. Remember to tell me if you like it or not for feedback! That would be greatly appreciated.**

**Thanks a bunch,  
SharkAttack719**


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